On news days like today CNN seems like a parody of itself. While waiting for the Ferguson grand jury decision it was obviously stalling/wasting time and repeating itself.

Breaking news….. for real!

But I wonder if the script will ever flip? Could organizations that wait for that FINAL moment to do a wide push ever become the joke? Not for being “too slow” but for repeating news that is already echoing through a cacophony of social media RT’s and shares.

In the event of unforeseen breaking news — I can’t imagine a push being a parody/joke. Just as when CNN is at its best in ongoing breaking news coverage, we applaud their work (and I expect tonight they will do courageous reporting in Ferguson). But certainly there is theater leading up to the announcement. And the “Breaking” push will also be immensely important as we move forward into a digital future. But we do have to stop and wonder how it too can become part of theater. An expected act and almost appropriated for the news organization’s needs instead of the users.

Just as CNN has the problem of filling air, organizations that are increasingly relying on the push have other requirements built into their essence. And fulfilling these requirements could eventually turn into self-parody. Hence — deep conversations already taking place about pushes (often CNN remains the butt of the joke here). I look at Circa* and Breaking News and to me these organizations have the most sophisticated views on pushes (bias admitted). In addition to maintaining editorial cohesion about what merits a push, they allow the user to set parameters. This takes advantage of the personal nature of a push, rather than turn it into a shouting tool.

We are still on the upswing of exploration in this space and all signs are positive. News organizations are still thinking about how to use this tool powerful tool which pushes content to the most intimate of objects (the phone). I just wonder if it will ever begin to backfire.